Door hinge assembly for bins

ABSTRACT

An improved hinge assembly for mounting a discharge door on the front wall of a large bin capable of transporting and storing bulk material. The hinge assembly consists of a generally S-shape hinge bar which is secured to the front wall of the bin and terminates at its lower end in a plurality of depending generally U-shape supports which are spaced apart in a horizontal direction. A hinge rod which supports the door is rotatably supported in the depending supports on the hinge bar.

United States Patent 1 Mar. 28, 1972 Nichols [54] DOOR HINGE ASSEMBLYFOR BINS [72] Inventor: Dwight E. Nichols, Beatrice, Nebr.

[73] Assignee: Hoover Ball and Bearing Company, Saline,

Mich.

I22] Filed: Aug. 19, 1969 [211 App1.No.: 851,337

[52] U.S.Cl ..16/128, 16/172, 220/32 [51] ..E05d 9/00, E05d 1/06, B65d43/16 [58] Field of Search 16/128, 172; 206/56; 220/31-32 [56]References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 729,272 5/1903 Burney ..220/32Eickenberg ..220/31 1,864,538 6/1932 Hauser ..220/32 2,664,221 12/ 1 953Seltzer 2,648,428 8/1953 White et a1 2,661,125 12/1953 Grandrud ..16/172X Primary Examiner-Paul R. Gilliam Attorney-Olsen and Stephenson [5 7]ABSTRACT 3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures INVENTOR 22 DWIGHT E. NlCHOLSATTORNEYS DOOR HINGE ASSEMBLY FOR BINS This invention relates generallyto large metal bins of a type for transporting and storing bulkmaterials, an example of which is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,648,428owned by the assignee of this application. Such a bin includes a largerectangular discharge opening in the bin front wall adjacent the lowerend of the bin, and a door for closing the discharge opening. The dooris conventionally supported on a hinge which consists of interfittingtubular portions on the bin front wall and the bin door and a hinge rodwhich extends through the tubular portions. It is an object of thepresent invention to provide an improved door hinge assembly for bins ofthis type.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a door hingeassembly for bins of the above type which has improved sanitaryfeatures, namely, is less likely to become contaminated and is easier toclean.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a door hingeassembly for bins which is of simple and inexpensive construction.

In the door hinge assembly of this invention, a generally S- shape hingebar is secured by welding to the front wall of the bin at a positionabove the discharge opening. The S-shape construction of the hinge barenables it to be welded at two locations to the front wall of the bin sothat it will provide a firm support for a hinge rod secured to the door.The hinge rod is attached to upwardly extending finger portions on thedoor which are located between depending supports on the hinge bar sothat a relatively open construction is achieved which is readilycleaned.

Further objects, features and advantages of this invention will becomeapparent from a consideration of the following description, the appendedclaims, and the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a foreshortened front view of a bin provided with the improveddoor hinge assembly of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view of a portion of thehinge assembly of this invention as seen from substantially the line 2-2in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of another portion ofthe door hinge assembly of this invention as seen from the line 33 inFIG. 1, showing the bin door in closed positions in solid lines and inopen positions in broken lines.

With reference to the drawing the door hinge assembly of this invention,indicated generally at 10, is illustrated in FIG. 1 applied to a bin 12having a top wall 14, a front wall 16, and a bottom wall 18. The frontwall 16 has a discharge opening 20 formed therein which is of generallyrectangular shape and is closed by a rectangular door 22 duringtransport and storage of bulk material in the bin 12. The door 22 ismaintained in a closed position by a latch mechanism (not shown) whichis disposed on the inside of the door 22 at the lower end thereof and isshown in detail in the aforementioned U.S. patent.

The door hinge assembly includes a hinge bar 24 which extends generallyhorizontally of the front wall 16 at a position above the dischargeopening 20. The bar 24 is secured to the front wall 16 by continuouslines of welding 26 and 28 which extend horizontally at verticallyspaced positions on the front wall 16 and the hinge bar 24. At its lowerend, the hinge bar 24 includes a plurality of horizontally spacedgenerally U-shape support portions 30 which give the bar 24 a generallyS-shape configuration at the supports 30 as shown in FIG. 2. A hinge rod32 is rotatably supported in the supports 30 and is connected to thedoor 22 by downwardly extending finger portions 34 which are locatedbetween and spaced from the supports 30. The rod 32 is secured to thefingers 34 by means of welding 36 (FIG. 3).

It can thus be seen that the door 22 is readily opened by moving italong an arcuate path extending upwardly and outwardly, as shown inbroken lines in FIG. 3, so that the hinge rod 32 rotates in the hingebar support portions 30. When the door 22 is closed, a seal 38 carriedby the door engages the bin front wall 16 at a position surrounding theopening 20 so as to prevent leakage around the door 22. By virtue of therelatively open construction of the hinge assembl l0, contamination ofthe hinge assembly by foreign matert Wl'llCh might fall into materialbeing discharged through the door opening 20 is avoided. By virtue ofthe welding 26 and 28, the hinge bar 24 is in a somewhat sealed relationwith the bin front wall 16 so as to avoid contaminants being carried onthe hinge bar 24. Furthermore, the hinge assembly 10 is readilymanufactured by stamping the hinge bar 24 and welding the hinge rod 32to the door 22. This avoids any requirement for extrusions.

What is claimed is:

1. In a bin having an upright front wall provided with a dischargeopening adjacent the lower end of said wall, and a substantiallyrectangular door for said discharge opening, the improvement comprisinga hinge bar extending substantially horizontally and secured to saidfront wall at a position above said opening, said bar having a pluralityof depending generally U-shape supports spaced apart horizontally anddisposed above said opening, said U-shape supports opening upwardly andbeing externally accessible to facilitate cleaning thereof, and asubstantially straight hinge rod secured to said door and rotatablysupported in and engaged with said U- shape supports in the closedposition of said door whereby said door is 'hingedly movable about asubstantially horizontal axis extending along said rod, upward movementof said rod in said supports being unrestricted to thereby provide anopen hinge construction for said door which is readily cleaned.

2. A bin according to claim 1 wherein said hinge bar is of generallyS-shape in vertical section at said supports and further includingsubstantially horizontally extending weld means extending along theupper and lower portions of said hinge bar securing said hinge bar tosaid front wall.

3. A bin according to claim 2 wherein said hinge rod is secured to saiddoor by extension means on said door extending upwardly therefrombetween said U-shape supports.

1. In a bin having an upright front wall provided with a dischargeopening adjacent the lower end of said wall, and a substantiallyrectangular door for said discharge opening, the improvement comprisinga hinge bar extending substantially horizontally and secured to saidfront wall at a position above said opening, said bar having a pluralityof depending generally U-shape supports spaced apart horizontally anddisposed above said opening, said U-shape supports opening upwardly andbeing externally accessible to facilitate cleaning thereof, and asubstantially straight hinge rod secured to said door and rotatablysupported in and engaged with said U-shape supports in the closedposition of said door whereby said door is hingedly movable about asubstantially horizontal axis extending along said rod, upward movementof said rod in said supports being unrestricted to thereby provide anopen hinge construction for said door which is readily cleaned.
 2. A binaccording to claim 1 wherein said hinge bar is of generally S-shape invertical section at said supports and further including substantiallyhorizontally extending weld means extending along the upper and lowerportions of said hinge bar securing said hinge bar to said front wall.3. A bin according to claim 2 wherein said hinge rod is secured to saiddoor by extension means on said door extending upwardly therefrombetween said U-shape supports.